Improvement in markers for hand cprntplantelrs



B.. PHELPS. MARKERS FOR HAND CORN-PLAN'TERS.

Patented Sept.18, 1877.

llllllliifl |||l. II, l'l lilllvl irlllrl- IIFIIIIIIIIIIFIIIIFIIILF lllll ll ATTORNEY N. PETERS. PNOTO LITNDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C.

PATENT OFFtoE.

BYRON PHELPS; OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS;

IMPROVEMENT IN MARKERS FOR\-H-A'N-;D-CORNrPLA NTEtRS..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 195,392, dated September 18, 1877 application filed August 9, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BYRON PHELPS. of Decatur, county of Macon, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Markers for Hand Corn-Planters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan or top view of my improved truck, designed to be used in connection with a hand-planter, for transferring and laying the cord or marker; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the hand-planter with the device attached adapting it to be used with the check-row cord or marker.

My invention relates to a novel construe tion of hand-planter, adapting it to .be used in connection with a check-row cord or marker, and to the means employed for laying and transferring said cord or marker, and for marking the ground for said planter; and consists, first, in the combination, with the hand-planter, of a guide-loop, bracket, or eye, through which the cord or marker passes as the, planter is moved across the field, and which, in connection with the knots or marks on the cord or marker, serves to indicate to the operator when and where the hills are to be planted.

It further consists in the employment, in connection with the hand-planter, of a novel truck for transferring and laying the marker, and for marking the ground for the guidance of the operator of the hand-planter.

In the accompanying drawing, A A represent the two carrying-wheels of the truck; B, the axle or flame; and O, the tongue, by which the truck is drawn. D D are two horizontal pulleys or sheaves, mounted on the axle or a frame-bar, B, as shown, at a distance apart conforming to the distance between the rows to be planted. The pulleys may be made adjustable for varying such distance, if required. E is the cord or marker, passing around the pulleys D D and across the truck, from one side to the other, in the process of relaying or being transferred, as shown, and F F indicate the marks or knots on the cord. G G represent the tracks made in the ground by the wheels, and K K the points where the hills of corn are to be planted.

The hand-planter I may be of any usual or preferred construction, and is provided at or near its lower end with an eye, slotted bracket, or loop, H, which projects at the side of the planter, and serves to connect the cord, which passes through said eye, with the planter, as shown. This guiding eye or bracket may project on one side only of the planter, or it may extend across and project on both sides, for permitting lateral movement of the planter relative to the cord; and it may be either pivoted thereto or rigidly connected, as preferred, its object and purpose being to prevent the planter from being placed on the cord when the former is pressed into the ground, and to maintain the proper relation of the planter to the cord or marker for indicating the points at which the hills of corn are to be deposited.

In operation, the cord or marker is stretched across the field, and is moved from one row to another by means of the truck and of the transferring-pulleys D D on a bar or axle of said truck, which is simply a small hand-cart, (without bed or box,) intended to be drawn by hand, in the usual manner.

The wheels of the truck are placed at such a distance apart that the tracks or indentations formed in the ground thereby will serve as guides to the operator, who presses the point of the planter into the ground, depositing the seed near or in the track of the wheel, and at points indicated by the knots or other marks on the cord, thus planting the corn in rows not only parallel with, but also at right angles to, the line of the cord or marker and to the path of the operator, producing thereby what is termed check-rowing.

Runners may be used in lieu of the wheels A A, if preferred, and the method of moving or transferring the cord or marker from row to row may be varied. I therefore do not wish to be restricted to the precise construction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A hand-planter, I, provided with the loop or eye H for the cord or marker E, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a hand-planter with a check-row cord or marker, substantially as 4. The combination of a cord or marker and for the purpose set forth. truck, a check-row cord or marker, and a 3. The marker-truck composed of the main hand-planter, substantially as described.

frame, bar, or axle B, provided with transferring-pulleys D D, carrying-wheels A A or BYRON PHELPS.

their equivalent, and tongue 0, separate from and independent of any seeding devices, for Witnesses:

laying and transferring the check-row cord or P. L. MUBDOOK,

marker, and adapting the latter to be used in A. J. CLARK. connection with a hand-planter, as described. 

